Take Me High and I'll Sing
by thewindinthemeadow
Summary: Nine-year-old Adam's loyalties are tested by his friendship with his father's prisoner, the angel Samandriel. His family connection is weak and new, and the draw to Samandriel is strong, even though they hardly know each other. John and Dean also captured Castiel, and Sam is Gabriel's prisoner in Heaven. AU; no pairings.
1. Chapter 1

**I ran out of title ideas and stole a lyric from Starset's _My Demons_ , so credit them for the title. It fits with the fic, and I was soo tired of trying to come up with titles. **

**I rated this k+ because it's all seen through a kid's eyes. Some of the content is a little rough, but I avoided describing anything. There will be torture in later chapters, but it's the opposite of graphic. There's some minor action violence as well.**

 **If you were wondering, this isn't a romance in any way. Possible subtle Destiel, but not anywhere near as much as in the actual show.**

 **I felt free to make changes to canon, so the universe is a little different. I hope you enjoy it!**

When I was seven my mother died in a car accident, and I was sent to live with a father I'd never met. Now I'm stuck with a bunch of knowledge I never wanted. My dad's John Winchester. He drags me around to a million hotel rooms and runs off to fight monsters with his other sons, Sam and Dean. Monsters?! Really, John, monsters? And why tell a seven year old?

Now I've been with them for about eighteen months. Luckily, I'm too young for John to expect me to be a hunter. Not having reached double digits yet has its perks. Still, it's a harder life than when I lived with my mom, Kate Milligan. I don't want to even think about how it'll be when I'm old enough to go on hunting trips.

I'm supposed to be at the library right now. John ordered me to go there. Normally, I spend all my time at the library, but John _ordered_ me to go there. I don't do orders. So I changed my plans and am snooping in on their private conversation. I hadn't expected to need Sam's lessons in stealth, but they're coming in handy now.

"But will the proofing sigils work if they manifest their wings?" Dean asked.

"The handcuffs'll be enough," John said gruffly. He's usually gruff.

"We don't have enough holy oil," Sam complained. "And even if we did the whole idea is ridiculous."

"I'm in charge here, and I say we're doing it," John snapped.

"They don't deserve to be hunted. They _can't_ be hunted! All you're going to do is get us killed."

"Don't question me!" John yelled.

"You need to be questioned!" Sam yelled right back. "This hunt is suicidal, and we aren't even hunting monsters."

"We hunt monsters, and the angels are monsters," John said. "We're hunting them, and that's final."

Angels? Did I hear John right? No way. He cannot be hunting angels. I just misheard. It's surely some other monster whose name sounds like angels.

"We hunt monsters who kill people," Sam retorted. "We start hunting all inhuman creatures and we'll be no better than the monsters!"

"The angel did sound pretty innocent," Dean interjected quietly.

"We are hunters!" John yelled. "We need to be able to hunt, and if we don't know how to kill those angels, we won't be able to."

So, the word was definitely angel. OK, so it's a code word or something. There's no way he meant literal angels. Right? Even John can't be nuts enough to think angels need hunting. I never studied theology beyond Christmas Carols, but aren't angels good-guy messengers who are perfect and work for God? It's worse than hunting Santa's elves, and about as possible.

"And what are you going to do about Adam," Sam was asking. "He's a kid. You can't drag him into this mess."

They're talking about me. I don't like it when they talk about me. I mean, if they're hunting angels I don't want in, so Sam is right. But I don't really feel like being the prop in an argument.

"Adam's nine," John spat back. "He's old enough to deal."

That was bad. It was very convenient for me to pull the kid card. Was John stealing that from me? I'd known it was only a matter of time before this happened, but I'd wanted some more time. At least another two or three years. I'd thought maybe by then I'd be tough enough to handle standing up against John and point blank refuse to hunt.

"Couldn't you send the kid to Bobby's?" Dean asked.

"Ah, couldn't hurt," John said off-handedly. "And we've got enough time I suppose."

"We shouldn't use the summoning ritual," Sam said. "It's the worst hunting idea you've ever had."

"It'll work."

"That's not what I'm worried about," Sam said. "If I was confident it would flop, I'd say go ahead. It would be a _disaster_ if it worked."

"We can handle an angel," John said. "We're hunters. It's our job."

"But we shouldn't. Three against one, really? That's hardly fair," Sam spat.

"Fair is irrelevant, you insolent brat!" John yelled.

I took that as my cue to leave. This was worth researching, and now that they had dropped into insults it wasn't worthwhile to keep listening. I walked over to the library. I wanted to see if they had anything on angels, and it wouldn't hurt if John thought I'd been there the whole time. The library was a flop. I couldn't find any reliable information on angels. They're too popular of a myth.

It probably wouldn't matter. John was a decent hunter, but there was no way he'd catch an _angel_. They probably weren't real anyway. Angels? Really? The regular hunting crap was real, I'd seen enough to believe it. But angels weren't monsters. They were- rays of holy light or something. I don't know; it sounded bad as soon as I thought it out.

John showed up at the library and snagged me to drag me to Bobby's. I didn't resist, and I didn't try asking about where we were going. I don't think he likes it when I ask questions. I'm not a confrontational person like Sam. I'd rather just quietly protest or hide in the crowd.

John got in this big argument with Bobby and we ended up leaving. Well, I left civilly. Bobby chased John off with a loaded shotgun. It was pretty normal for John's interactions with other hunters, so it didn't faze me. I've gotten good at being neutral and staying out of arguments.

John drove me to an abandoned warehouse in North Dakota, and started painting a bunch of sigils on the walls. I sat in a corner and read an L'Engle book. Several hours later it got too dark to read, so I tucked the book into my backpack and looked around for a light. There were no lights. Apparently, John had left me alone in an abandoned warehouse with nothing. I sighed in irritation. I wish I had a better guardian. This is _not_ how you're supposed to parent a nine year old.

I got bored and left the warehouse. If I got in trouble, it would be John's fault for not telling me not to. I stumbled into the middle of a summoning circle, and tripped over a wire. "Oof," I yelped, falling on my face. There was a funny hissing noise, and fire sprang up all around me.

I cried out in shock and jerked away from it, but the fire surrounded me in a circle shape. There was no escaping. "Um," I choked. I sat in the center and pulled my knees to my chest. I'd been caught before, and I could tell the fire wasn't closing in on me. But I was still scared.

I don't like feeling trapped, and I have pretty bad claustrophobia. I started freaking out a little, staring around at the fire. I was trapped; I was stuck. I couldn't get away. I looked outside the fire for the first time, hoping someone was coming to let me out.

Three confused faces looked back at me. Sam, Dean, and John.

"Guys?" I asked.

"Adam?" Sam asked.

"C-can you let me out?" I asked hopefully.

"Of course," Sam said. "We were expecting someone else."

"No," John spoke suddenly. "He's possessed."

I sniffled. "Am not."

"I guess it's possible," Dean said.

"G-guys, this isn't f-funny," I stammered. "Lemme out."

"Dad, he's not possessed," Sam said.

"There's far too much to say he is," John said firmly.

"Can't you just throw holy water at me and prove I'm human?" I begged. I didn't want to stay in the circle.

"It wouldn't work," Dean said gruffly.

"Holy water won't affect what we're hunting," Sam explained gently.

"Oh," I said. "Angels, right. Duh."

"There," John said triumphantly. "Proof you're not Adam. He didn't know it was angels."

"What?" I asked, horrified. "But- I'm really me!"

"We'd need proof," Dean said.

"He's an angel," John said sternly.

Dean backed down. Of course he backed down. He's Dean, he never questions John properly.

I turned to look at Sam, the only one who wasn't convinced I was an angel. "You believe me, right?"

"Yeah," he said. "I didn't even finish reading the summoning yet. And angels need permission to possess people, so I think you're clean."

"Phew," I said.

Sam got a bucket of water they'd had on hand for emergencies and was about to put out the fire.

"Stop!" John ordered angrily. "Do not release the angel."

"Yeah, cause Adam's an angel," Sam said. "Sure, I totally agree," he added sarcastically. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going to let my little brother out of the fire."

"Stop this insubordination this minute," John ordered fiercely.

"Why?" Sam snapped. "I don't want to help you fight angels, much less my own little brother! Can't you see at all anymore?" He was about to storm away.

"Wait," I begged. "I don't wanna be alone." I didn't count John and Dean. They thought I was an angel and wanted to hurt me. I wasn't clear on why they thought I was an angel or why they would want to hurt me if I was, but I knew I didn't want Sam to leave. I extended my arm toward Sam and over the ring of fire, entreating him not to leave me.

"An angel couldn't do that," Dean noted.

"So Adam's not possessed," John admitted hesitantly.

Sam splashed water onto the fire, putting it out. I jumped up, ran to him and hugged him.

"Hey, Adam, it's ok," he said gently. I noticed I was crying.

"Sam, finish the summoning," John ordered.

"Forget it," Sam said. "Why are we hunting angels in the first place?"

"Read. The. Summoning."

"Explain your reasoning first," Sam said. "And maybe I'll think about it."

"You are my most disappointing child," John said. He turned. "Dean, read the summoning."

Dean took the paper with the summoning on it from Sam and read from it obediently.

I was a little confused. The oil was covered in water, and the trip-wire wasn't reset from me stepping on it. How were we going to catch an angel if one did show up? We weren't prepared. I wasn't convinced yet on this angels are real thing, much less that you could summon one. If one did show up though, and was nasty like John thought, we were toast.

But an angel wouldn't be nasty. How nasty could a beautiful, winged harp player who sat on clouds be? And even if those stories were wrong, we'd probably be looking at a righteous warrior, right? Angels were nice. I was actually looking forward to the possibility of an angel showing up. It would be cool to see a real one.

Dean finished chanting with the word Samandriel. I vaguely recognized the summoning ritual, and I was pretty sure this was where the name of the person you wanted to summon went. So the angel's name was Samandriel? It was kinda long, but I liked it.

"How'd you get the name to use?" I asked.

"A woman in San Francisco said a young man named Samandriel saved her daughter from drowning," Sam explained. "We think he was an angel."

"Isn't helping people good?" I asked, confused. "Isn't that what you guys do?"

"Yeah." It was Dean who answered.

"So why are we hunting Samandriel if he saved some poor girl?"

"That's my question too," Sam said.

"Because he's a monster," John said.

"He's an angel, dad," Sam argued. "He's good."

"He's not human, so we find a way to kill him," John said matter-of-factly.

"That's nuts," Sam spat.

"It's common sense and good hunting," John snapped back.

The soft flutter of wings prevented Sam from replying. Samandriel had come.


	2. Chapter 2

**This chapter has minor action violence and mentions of torture. Mentioned major character death, but it didn't actually happen.**

 **I gave the angels their normal vessels, even though they wouldn't necessarily have the same ones as in cannon. So Samandriel is Tyler Johnston, and Castiel is Misha Collins.**

Two people, or angels rather, appeared in front of us. There was nothing particularly angelic about either of them. No wings or harps, no glowing halos above their heads or anything. The younger and smaller of them was dressed in a bright white and red striped uniform and a silly baseball style hat with Weiner Hut written on it.

The taller one had more a traditional business suit look with a tan trench coat thrown over it. Their most notably angelic feature was their bright blue eyes. It made them look similar, in a way, almost like family, even though the rest of their features weren't at all alike.

"Are you Dean Winchester?" the one in the Weiner Hut uniform asked.

"Uh, yeah," Dean said. "Are you an angel, uh- Alfie?" He read the name off the uniform's nametag.

"My name is Samandriel," the angel said.

"And who're you?" Dean asked the angel in the trench coat.

"Castiel," he said simply. "Why did you summon my brother?"

"Uh, you two are brothers?" Dean asked.

"All angels consider themselves siblings," Samandriel explained.

"Do you have wings?" I blurted. Then I blushed when everyone looked at me.

Samandriel smiled warmly at me. "Of course," he said. "Would you like to see them?"

"Yeah," I said enthusiastically. "Please," I tacked on the end. My mother had gone to a lot of work to train me to say please and thank-you at appropriate times. Even now with the Winchesters who didn't require it, I tried to have decent manners because Mom would want me to.

Then John fired his gun at Castiel out of nowhere and everything got crazy. Dean splashed a bunch of oil at Samandriel and got it all over his uniform. Sam tackled John, who hit him in the head. I think Sam was just dazed, but he didn't move for a little while.

John fired a gun in Samandriel's general direction and almost hit me. He would've, but Samandriel tackled me, knocking us both out of the line of fire. John was yelling something, but I couldn't hear what it was because Samandriel was lying on top of me. He rolled off and appeared to be quickly checking me over for injuries.

Dean and Castiel were in a fistfight, or rather Dean was alternating between punching Castiel and holding his fists in agony. I'm not very good at figuring out what's going on in fights, but somehow I got doused in the oil. I think it might have been John's fault.

Castiel was arguing with Dean, and Dean got distracted. Apparently they both forgot we were fighting and called an informal truce to stare at each other. John missed the memo. He somehow managed to handcuff Castiel. I'm still not sure what happened.

And then Dean was fighting Samandriel and Sam was up and yelling at him. John pushed Sam into Castiel and knocked them both over. John's nose was bleeding, and Samandriel was concentrating very hard on something, I'm not sure what.

John was waving around a lit match, and I think he tried to tackle Samandriel or something and somehow kicked me in the head. Anyway, I got knocked out and my nose started bleeding, too. I was out for a while, cause it was four in the morning when I woke up. At least, my watch said so. The glass pane in the front was broken, but the rest seemed intact and it was still ticking.

I was in another empty warehouse. I could tell it was different, but the important stuff was identical to the last warehouse. This one had what looked like stairs to a basement, but it was the only change. I was a little worried about what could've gone down while I was out, but I figured I'd find out in the morning. I was awfully tired.

I fell back asleep. For a while I was fine, but I woke up from a nightmare at seven, three hours later. I would've tried to go back to sleep, but the pained screams from the dream kept going in the waking world. Someone close to me was screaming like they were being tortured.

Maybe if I was as brave as my mother thought I was, I would've gone to investigate. But I was scared. I didn't want to find out what could make someone scream so horrifically. So I hid under the blankets I'd woken up on top of. I put my hands over my ears and tried to block out the screaming. It didn't work.

Even when the screams stopped, their echo still rang in my ears. I didn't want to come out from under the blankets, because I felt like they were the only thing separating me from such an awful sound. It was too horrible. The screams barely even seemed human, they were so pained. Well, maybe they weren't human. Maybe the angels got hurt.

The thought was worrisome enough to get me up. For some reason, the thought of Samandriel being tortured was much worse than the thought of John, Dean, or even Sam being the ones screaming. I pushed off the blankets and stood up. I had to go find the place where the screams had come from and make sure that if it was Samandriel, he was ok now.

The hard thing was the screams had stopped, making tracking them difficult. I took an educated guess they were from the basement. Before I could reach the door, Dean and John came out of it. They looked ok, but John was holding a nasty looking serrated knife and Dean's shirt had blood splattered on it.

"Where's Sam?" I asked. Sam was the only one who cared about the angels and could help me make sure Samandriel and Castiel were alright.

"Taken," Dean said. I took another look at him and realized he was miserable and horribly angry and desperate. It was how Dean normally looked when Sam was in trouble and there was nothing he could do to help.

"By now he's dead," John added.

My mouth dropped open. Sam was dead? No, it wasn't possible. He'd been fine just yesterday. And- he was so alive and such a big part of my life. He just couldn't be gone. "But- how?" My eyes filled with tears. This was awful.

"The angels called for backup and the backup took Sam," Dean replied shortly. "He's gone."

"No!" I said. "It's not true! It can't be!"

"It is," John snapped. "Get a handle on yourself or go stand in the corner."

"No! Sam died, you can't make me just-"

"Stop this nonsense at once! I am your father, and you will stop this temper tantrum this minute," John ordered.

"It's not a temper tantrum, and you're not my father!" I yelled. John didn't care enough to count as family to me. "My brother died!"

"That is irrelevant," John said harshly.

"No, it's not. I hate you," I said. I ran for the door to outside.

"Don't," Dean said suddenly. "Stay in the warded building."

I hesitated. Dean was usually pretty reasonable, but right now I didn't care if I was exposing myself to the angels or not. I grabbed for the door handle.

"Dean, stop him," John ordered.

Dean grabbed me around the waist and pulled me back from the door. I kicked at him.

"Let me go," I howled. "John, do it yourself, don't use your muscle man! I'm nine, I would think you could handle me! Get over here, you coward!"

John ignored me.

Dean set me on the ground. "Adam, you have to stay inside, ok?" he said. "It's not safe out there."

"I have to find Sam," I sniffled.

"Castiel said they most likely already killed him," Dean said, his voice tight. "Just stay inside. Adam, I can't lose you too."

"OK, Dean," I said meekly. "Just don't make me stay in the room with John."

"You don't have to," he said.

"Stay away from the angels," John ordered from across the room.

As I said before, I'm not much of a rule follower. If I don't respect you, and you give me an order, I will go out of my way to break it. If someone I respect gives me an order, it's a different matter. There are people I do my best to obey. John just isn't on the list. I took John's order as motivation to pay the angels a visit as soon as possible.

I went to the corner and played the crying child for a minute. It wasn't hard. I was really crying, cause Sam died and I care about him a lot. I waited until John wasn't paying attention and then snuck down into the basement.

It was a little scary down there, enough that I almost regretted my decision to check it out. The only light was an uncovered bulb that cast stark shadows. It made everything feel surreal. The room was dirty, and the angels were chained to the wall and had obviously been tortured. Castiel more than Samandriel.

I went over to them. That was the point where I wasn't entirely clear on what to do. I figured I'd try for polite and introduce myself. "Hi, I'm Adam," I said.

"Hello, Adam," Samandriel said. "It's nice to meet you, despite the circumstances."

"Sorry about that," I said. "John's mean."

"I noticed," Castiel said quietly. It sounded like even talking hurt him.

"Castiel's been deliberately angering John and Dean to keep the pressure off me," Samandriel said in a guilt ridden voice.

"I'm a higher rank than him," Castiel told me. "It's just my job."

Tears filled my eyes. "I'm sorry," I said. "I should've tried harder to stop him."

"It's not your fault," Samandriel told me gently. "You're only a child."

"It feels like my fault," I said, ducking my head. "What happened to Sam? Is he really dead?"

"No," Samandriel said reassuringly. "He just got captured. He's fine."

"Then why'd John say he was dead?" I asked.

"I told him Sam was dead because he was interrogating Samandriel," Castiel interjected. "He got mad enough at me to leave Samandriel alone, which was my goal."

"You didn't have to do that," Samandriel said. "I can take torture."

"It's a lot easier for me to handle," Castiel said. "I've done it before."

"Are you mad that my family tortured you?" I asked them. My lip might've trembled a bit. I liked the angels, especially Samandriel, and I didn't want to get on their bad side.

"We're mad, just not at you," Samandriel said.

"OK, that's good," I said. I hesitated. "Is there any way I could help you? I don't wanna just leave you guys to get hurt worse."

"You'd get in trouble," Samandriel warned. "Possibly quite seriously."

"John already stuck me in a circle of fire cause he thought I got possessed," I argued. "And I didn't even do anything. So I think I'd probably get in trouble anyway."

"John stuck you in a fire circle?" Samandriel asked. "Holy fire?"

I shrugged. "I dunno what kind of fire it was. He thought I was an angel. It was weird."

"A circle of holy fire is the simplest way to trap us," Samandriel explained. "Why'd he think you were possessed?"

I shrugged again. "I didn't even know angels possessed people then. Wait, are you, like, possessing someone?"

Samandriel nodded.

"Weird," I said.

"His name's Alfie. He was a pretty normal college student before he said yes."

"What do you mean he said yes?" I asked.

"Angels aren't like demons," Samandriel said. "We need permission to possess humans. So when Alfie said yes, he let me in."

"Cool," I said. "What's getting possessed like?"

"I don't actually know," Samandriel said. "Do you want to ask Alfie?"

"Can I?" I asked.

"Sure." Samandriel's breathing patterns changed as he let Alfie take over. "Hi," he said. Except it was Alfie talking.

"Hullo, I'm Adam," I said.

"Where am I?" Alfie asked. "What happened? Why did it hurt so much? And- am I chained up?!"

"My dad and my older brother captured Samandriel and tied him up," I explained. "It's bad."

"Oh," Alfie said. "So, why am I talking to you? What happened to Samandriel?"

"I asked to talk to you cause Samandriel said he was possessing someone and I wanted to know what it was like to be possessed," I explained.

"Oh, it's, uh- interesting," Alfie said. "I've learned a lot. It can be overwhelming, kind of like riding a really wild rollercoaster for weeks on end. And sometimes I feel like I'm climbing a tree during a hurricane- but Samandriel shields me from the worst of it. And it's-" a smile crept onto his face- "exhilarating. There's no real way to describe it."

"That sounds like fun," I decided.

"Mind if I let Samandriel take over again?" Alfie asked. "I'm not really into the whole creepy dungeon vibe."

"OK," I said.

Alfie's eyes glowed blue as Samandriel took back the wheel.

"He seemed upset," Samandriel said, concerned. "Did everything go alright?"

"He didn't like the basement," I explained. "I can't say I blame him. It's creepy down here."

"It's certainly not the most pleasant place I've been," Samandriel agreed.

"How are you so calm about this?" I asked. "You got kidnapped and tortured, and you're acting like everything's fine. How?"

"I'm not fine," Samandriel admitted. "I'm probably the most scared I've been my whole life. But focusing on it will just make it worse. I'm banking on all the lessons I got in Heaven to stay this calm."

"I guess Heaven has really good lessons for if you ever get captured," I said. "John just told me to not give away any important information if I get captured. He didn't even explain what information is important."

Samandriel laughed. "He probably just doesn't think you'll ever get captured."

"But I did get captured once," I protested.

"Tell me about it," Samandriel offered.

I went into a long, detailed explanation of the time I got captured by a nest of vampires who were planning to use me as a blood slave. Dean rescued me before they bit me, but it had been scary and I was very proud of the experience. Samandriel was a good listener and seemed honestly interested, so we just talked for a long time. It felt wonderful to be able to speak openly to someone who wanted to hear.

I could sometimes talk to Sam, but he was really busy a lot. And Dean and John never wanted to talk to me. That left me with a bunch of civilians I never stayed with for longer than a few weeks. I'd been feeling lonely, even if I hadn't realized it until I finally got a friend. I told Samandriel that, too.


	3. Chapter 3

**This is in third person because I really wanted to have a chapter with Sam and Gabriel in Heaven. A plot shift from cannon you should know about: Gabriel got caught when he ran away from Heaven and brought back. He never spent millennia off as a trickster, and it had a strong effect on Gabriel and Heaven in general.**

 **There's some blood in this chapter, and peril, but I don't think it's that serious.**

Sam woke up in field of grass. He looked around, confused. The last thing he remembered was his dad's stupid fight with the angels. How had he ended up here? Then he saw the deep purple sky alight with silver sparks above him. It wasn't an earthly sky. And if Sam wasn't on Earth anymore, that meant he'd been taken to Heaven or Hell. It was far too beautiful for Hell, so it must be Heaven. He could believe Heaven looked like this.

Sam knew he'd been alone when he woke up, but a moment later someone was standing next to him. The man was short, but his stance was regal and confident to make up for it. His wavy, dirty-blond hair was normal, but his golden eyes flashed power in a very inhuman way.

Sam scooted backwards a little to put space between him and the potential threat. He guessed the man was an angel, and normally he would've been delighted to have a chance to speak with a real angel, but this wasn't exactly normal. Sam might've been unhappy with his father's plan to attack the angels, but the angels didn't know that.

The angel turned the full force of those paralyzing golden eyes on Sam, who froze. They locked eyes for a long moment before Sam broke away, gasping and pale. He hadn't imagined just staring into someone's eyes could be so powerful.

The angel offered his hand to Sam and pulled him up. Another show of power, as a human of his height and build wouldn't've been able to do that so easily. Sam studied him fearfully, uncertain of what he intended or to handle it. And Sam recognized that he had no power at all in this situation to do anything against the angel.

"It's Sam, right?" the angel asked.

"Yes," Sam said. "And- who're you?"

"Gabriel," he said.

"Gabriel, the archangel?" Sam asked, wide-eyed.

Gabriel nodded, watching Sam with those bright golden eyes. And Sam had no trouble believing that Gabriel was an archangel. He'd sensed power on Castiel and Samandriel, but they were nothing like this. Unmatchable power poured off Gabriel like it was nothing.

Sam finally understood why people said that the archangels were absolute. And Gabriel wasn't even a warrior in any real sense. He wondered how terrifying meeting Michael would be.

"Oh," Sam stammered. "H-hi?"

"Relax, would you?" Gabriel said. "I'm not gonna smite you or anything."

Sam took that as license to ask questions and be a little more confident. "How'd I get here?" he asked. "Is this Heaven?"

"A piece of it," Gabriel agreed. "I had to be careful where I took you. Most of Heaven isn't safe for living humans."

"You brought me here?" Sam asked. "Wait, I'm a prisoner?" His heart beat more quickly as futile adrenalin prepared him to try to run from Gabriel.

"You were taken from a battlefield where you were fighting against us," Gabriel deadpanned. "You're a prisoner. Duh. Live with it."

"Yeah, but why aren't I tied up or something?"

Gabriel raised one eyebrow. "You think you can escape?" he asked incredulously. "Sam-a-lam, _I can fly_. I don't need chains to keep you imprisoned."

"I guess you're right," Sam agreed weakly. He closed his eyes for a moment to try to process the situation. "What does that mean?" he asked. He sounded more vulnerable than he wanted, but he couldn't make his voice stronger. "Are you going to torture me or use me as a hostage or something?"

Gabriel tilted his head to the side. "No," he said flatly. "This is Heaven. You only can't leave; there are no other restrictions on you. Well, besides the basics like no deliberately disrupting people's work or trying to hurt someone."

"Oh," Sam said, smiling a little. "That doesn't sound bad at all."

Gabriel rolled his eyes. "It's Heaven, kiddo. Not a jail."

"What happened?" Sam asked. "How'd I end up here?"

"You jumped too high on a trampoline and bounced here," Gabriel snarked. "I teleported you here, ok? Ugh, humans these days."

Sam hadn't expected an angel to be so sarcastic and almost annoying. This was certainly interesting.

"Why'd you summon Samandriel anyway?" Gabriel demanded.

"My dad found out about angels and wanted to learn how to neutralize them," Sam answered honestly. "He can't handle there being anything out there he doesn't know how to kill; he's nuts."

"If we don't get Samandriel and Castiel back, unharmed, within the next few days, he'll die for it," Gabriel stated coolly.

Sam winced. "That's fair," he agreed, face going pale.

"I'm sorry he's your father," Gabriel said.

"I- I wouldn't fault you for killing him," Sam said. His voice broke.

"It would be just, after what he's done," Gabriel said. He looked like he was remembering something horrid.

"What exactly-?" Sam asked.

"If you'd heard Cass screaming earlier you'd understand," Gabriel snapped miserably.

"My dad's torturing angels now?" Sam asked, sickened. "That's awful."

"Understatement of the century," Gabriel spat. "The last time anyone dared torture an angel it was Satan wielding the blade. So you can imagine how I feel about your John Winchester right now."

Sam was in a quandary. Gabriel had a point, and Sam could clearly see that he was right. But John was Sam's father. No matter how horrible he was, the tie of blood was strong enough to at least make Sam wish John could be better. He wanted his father to be good. But that just wasn't the way things stood.

"You said you'd kill him if you couldn't rescue Castiel and Samandriel within a few days," Sam recalled. "Is there any way to rescue them?"

"The entire building is warded against angels," Gabriel said. "The warding's melded to Cass and Smandrie so that if I break it, I'd break them as well. It's actually quite clever, in a depraved, disgusting way. I could break the warding by leveling the building, but it would kill every human in a two mile radius, including Jimmy and Alfie, Castiel and Samandriel's vessels. They wouldn't thank me for freeing them like that."

"But that would kill Dean and Adam!" Sam cried in horror.

"Dean's death would be regrettable," Gabriel said. "He's not evil, just foolish and desperate. And Adam's death would be as bad as Jimmy and Alfie's. He's only a child."

The idea of Dean and Adam's deaths was so horrible it floored Sam for a moment. He forced himself to think about preventing it. "Is there any other way to break the warding?" he asked. This had to work. He couldn't survive it if his whole family all died.

"The design on the sigil's like a braid," Gabriel explained. "It's drawn in the blood of three humans. And only those three people can break the warding. I don't know who the people are."

Sam looked up hopefully. "I could be one of those three people! If Dad had any of my blood on hand, and he probably did, he could've used it."

"You think?" Gabriel asked. "We have to try. It's horrible- what they're doing to Cass."

"How do I break the sigil?" Sam asked urgently.

"Just smear your blood across it," Gabriel said. "It just has to be fresh blood from one of the original three donors, whose blood wasn't necessarily fresh when the sigil was painted."

Sam bit his lip. "Take me there," he said. "I promise I won't try to run or anything."

"I believe you," Gabriel replied. "Not that you would get anywhere if you tried to run away." He snapped his fingers, and they appeared in a field beside an abandoned warehouse. It was mid-morning, but no one was visible through the windows.

Sam and Gabriel walked to within four feet of the walls, and then Gabriel stopped. He looked horribly frustrated. "I hate angel warding," he complained. "It stinks."

Sam couldn't argue with that one. If John hadn't decided to fight the angels, a lot might have been better. But Sam wouldn't have gotten to meet Gabriel, so maybe it wasn't entirely bad. If he could save Castiel and Samandriel, maybe he could get Gabriel to forgive him for his part in this. He hadn't wanted to hurt anyone.

"Which sigil is it?" Sam asked. There were a million sigils painted every which way all across the surface of the wall.

"That one," Gabriel said, pointing to a blurry, massive mess of dried blood smeared all over the wall. "It's not a normal sigil," he complained. "I think it's more of a spell, and I threw everything at it but it doesn't matter cuz it doesn't work like that."

"Can I have a knife?" Sam asked. "I need to bleed for this to work."

An elegant, curled silver blade slid from Gabriel's loose sleeve into his hand. He tossed it into the air to catch the blade and offered Sam the handle. "Be careful with this. It's powerful," he warned.

Sam took the offered blade cautiously. He cut a long line across his arm and smeared blood onto the sigil on the wall. He painted over it fairly heavily, not wanting to fail because he didn't cover it well enough. "Is it working?" he asked.

"No," Gabriel said, frustrated.

Sam dabbed on more blood desperately. He made another cut to get even more blood and poured it across the wall.

"It's not going to work," Gabriel said. "Sam, they didn't use your blood. It would've cancelled the spell by now if they had."

"It has to work!" Sam cried despairingly. Tears of pain and fear dripped from his eyes and he sliced more deeply into his arm, ignoring the dizziness from blood loss. He slathered more blood onto the wall, but nothing changed.

"Sam, stop," Gabriel ordered.

Sam didn't listen. It had to work. He couldn't let it not work, even if he bled out.

"Sam!" Gabriel cried. "Get back here! You're bleeding too much."

"I don't care," Sam sobbed. "It has to work. I can't lose them. I can't."

"It won't help," Gabriel insisted. "There's nothing you can do. Come here so I can heal you." He pushed against the warding, trying to get to Sam.

Sam collapsed to the ground.

"Sam!" Gabriel called desperately. "Sam, get up. You're bleeding out. Don't make the cuts that deep, you idiot! Sam!" He strained against the warding, wishing desperately that he could just break it with sheer power.

Sam just lay there on the ground. He didn't stir.

Gabriel bit his lip hard enough to draw blood, thinking. He snapped his fingers, and a rope with a hook on the end materialized in his hand. He might not be able to use his power that close to the wall of the building, but if he could snag Sam's jacket and yank him backwards it would work just as well.

The hook tore a hole in Sam's jacket, but it worked. Gabriel had him free of the warding just a few minutes after he'd collapsed. The cuts were effortless to heal, but replenishing the blood Sam had lost was harder. He'd sleep for a few hours and then be weak and pale for a few more. It was a small price to pay compared to what it could have been.

Gabriel flew back to Heaven with Sam and settled him on a bed in a guest room at the palace. It should be safe and comfortable enough by human standards. It was a toned down section, so nothing too bright should come to burn Sam's eyes out of his skull.

Humans were really so fragile. All it took was a little blood loss or a bright light to kill them. It just made them more beautiful, as far as Gabriel was concerned. He listened patiently to Sam's even, if slightly shallow, breaths. The human would be fine. It had been a close call, but even if Sam had died Gabriel could have called him back and healed him. There hadn't been any real danger.

Normally human resurrections were a limited, carefully watched miracle, but with the whole kidnapping situation the rules had changed. It was why Gabriel had been allowed to bring a living human to Heaven in the first place. Most of the time none of the angels would even consider something like this.

 **Reviews are appreciated!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Kay, back on Earth for this chapter. It picks up right where chapter two left off. Warnings for spanking of a minor and John!Bashing. It was inevitable if the plot was gonna work, and who am I kidding, I have a horrible opinion of John. I get that he really does care about his kids, but his way of showing it is a nightmare.**

Samandriel was telling me about what flying's like when John came down the stairs. We didn't notice at first, so he overheard a good chunk of our conversation.

"The wind picked up right as I was flying through the gorge," Samandriel said. "And it blew me- off course-" he suddenly stopped, face going pale.

"What is it?" I asked.

Samandriel ducked his head and didn't answer. I looked behind me.

"Oh."

"Adam, I specifically told you not to go near the angels," John said.

I shifted nervously. "I know," I mumbled.

"I know, _sir_ ," John corrected.

If he hadn't looked so angry, I would've sassed him back. As it was, I didn't dare. "Yes, sir," I mumbled.

"And speak clearly," he snapped.

I had a hard time not snapping right back. He was practically asking for it.

"Fine," I enunciated clearly.

"You disobeyed me," John said.

"No duh," I said sarcastically.

"You are a disgrace of a hunter," he said.

"I'm not a hunter," I argued angrily.

"Yes, you are," he said. "You are my son, and that makes you a hunter. So behave like one."

I flinched. "I have the right to talk to whoever I want," I protested.

"No, you do not," John said. "You can talk to who I say you may talk to and nobody else! And for disobedience and disrespect, you'll get a spanking and no meals for the rest of the day."

"Fine," I said rebelliously. "Spank me all you like. I don't care."

I think he might've at least brought me upstairs to spank me. Instead, he spanked me right in front of Samandriel and Castiel. I did _not_ want my new friends to be the audience for my shame. I was in tears by the end of it, and I ran upstairs to get away from John.

Dean looked up from where he was punching a hole in the wall when I stormed in from the basement.

"Adam?" he asked. "You ok, kid?"

"Leave me alone," I wailed. "It's all stupid and you're mean."

"Ah," Dean said. He gave me some space.

I turned my face to the corner and sat down, then leapt back up when sitting was uncomfortable. I kicked the wall. "I hate John," I cried. "I'm not a baby! He can't just spank me."

I swiped the tears from my cheeks and looked for something to do to take my mind off the pain and embarrassment. I found my backpack and got out my book. For a few hours the story took my mind off everything and I was happy. It was sometime in the late afternoon when I got hungry and restless.

John was eating a snack, which made my hunger worse. I was used to missing a few meals now and then, but did he really have to flaunt my punishment? And I was bored of reading and wanted some kind of exercise. I wondered how much trouble I'd get in if I left the warehouse for a quick walk.

I didn't want another spanking, but if he didn't notice… I snuck outside. The outside of the warehouse looked silly, all painted over with funny sigils. I supposed they were to keep Castiel and Samandriel in and the other angels out. It was sad.

In the bright daylight, I noticed a funny mark on my arm. A cut that I didn't remember getting. It wasn't big or anything, but I thought I'd remembered that my arm was fine. Huh. I must've missed seeing it earlier.

I ran around for a bit, careful to keep the warehouse in sight. I wouldn't want to get lost, especially not when I was already in trouble. I pulled up some of the long grasses and twisted them into random shapes when I got bored of running. I raced my shadow, looked at the clouds, and pretended to be a brave hero who fought off a dragon. Basically, I had a great time and completely lost track of when I needed to get back so John wouldn't notice I was gone in the first place.

It was twilight when I realized I'd been gone for hours. I was going to be in so much trouble. I crept back inside, and John immediately ambushed me and started yelling. I ducked my head, nodding and mumbling "yes, sir," in all the right places.

It didn't do much good, and I got another spanking. He also revoked my meal privileges for all of tomorrow. Really, can't he come up with original punishments? He just used these earlier today.

He didn't go at all easy on me with the spanking, and it really hurt after the other one just a few hours earlier. When it was finally over, I was too mad to just run off.

"You are an awful parent!" I yelled at him. "And I hope the next real monster you fight eats you!"

"That's it!" John yelled right back. "All you can use your mouth for is talking to enemies and being disrespectful, so you won't talk at all for the next twelve hours."

John duct-taped my mouth shut. I wasn't happy, but there was nothing I could do to express my displeasure. I stood in the corner and sulked.

Nobody seemed to care that I was sulking in the corner, so I got bored pretty quickly. But then there was nothing to do. John was watching me closely enough that I didn't dare try to visit Samandriel or sneak outside again, and it was too dark to read.

So then I stood in the corner and sulked because it was the only thing I could do. And that was pretty miserable. My stomach hurt badly, and my skin itched from the duct-tape. I was tempted to tear it off, but I couldn't stand the thought of a third spanking in one day. I just wanted to read my book, but I didn't have even a flashlight.

I lay down awkwardly on my side and tried to sleep. It was too early, and I wasn't tired. Add in the strange position, and I wasn't anywhere near sleep. It was a miserable few hours. At the end of it, Dean tapped my shoulder. Dean is a much better big brother than I give him credit for.

"Hey," Dean said. He grasped the edge of the duct-tape. "Ready?"

I nodded eagerly. Duct-tape removal would hurt, but it was better than being gagged.

Dean yanked it off quickly. I yelped, even though I'd been expecting it.

"Finally," I said. "I got really sick of not talking."

"Dad hasn't sanctioned it, so you'll have to put it back on in half an hour or so," Dean warned. "I brought you some food. Couldn't have my little bro starving."

"Thanks," I said, throwing my arms around him. "I'm glad you're my brother."

"No chick flick moments," Dean complained half-heartedly.

"Sorry," I teased. "I wouldn't want to spoil your machoness."

Dean growled at me. I giggled.

"So, uh, you said food?" I asked hopefully. My stomach growled, underlining my words.

"It's canned soup and granola bars, but it's edible," Dean said.

I looked at the soup. "If I'd had anything to eat yet today, that would look awful. Right now it looks delicious." I ate the soup and granola bars as quickly as I could. "How long do we have to stay here?" I asked.

"Dad wants to get some information out of the angels and find a way to kill them," Dean explained. "I don't know how long we'll have to stay here. It depends on when they break."

"Can't we at least leave the warehouse?" I whined. "I was outside for hours earlier and nothing happened."

"I stuck my head out the door and nearly lost it," Dean said. "The warding on this building is really strong, and the angels can't break it. I dunno why you were ok, but they're out there and they're not happy."

"Of course they're not," I said. "Dean, we attacked them for no reason and captured two of them and tortured them. That's mean."

"And in return, they killed Sam," Dean snapped back. "So they deserve what they get."

I blinked. "Castiel said Sam was probably still alive when I talked to him."

"I don't know why that would be," Dean said. "Maybe he was manipulating you since you take a more favorable view of angels. With me Cass was- graphic in his descriptions of Sam's death."

"Cass?" I asked.

"Castiel is too much of a mouthful," Dean said. "Cass works."

"I thought you hated him," I said. "Now you're nicknaming him?"

"I do hate him," Dean snapped. "Rarely hated anyone more."

"Cass said he lied to you," I said. "When he was talking to me. He was trying to make you mad so you'd focus on him and let Samandriel alone."

"No," Dean said immediately. Then he thought it through. "I think you might be right. It was always right when I turned to Samandriel that Cass would say something about Sam. I just got so mad I couldn't even think!"

"And you hurt him instead of Samandriel," I noted.

Dean was silent for a moment, thinking about the angels.

"Can I have a flashlight so I can read in the dark?" I asked.

Dean started, like he'd forgotten I was there. "Oh, sure," he said. "There's an extra in my backpack you can have."

I read for a while with Dean's flashlight, not bothering to replace the duct-tape. If I got in trouble with John, then I got in trouble with John. Wouldn't be the first time or the last. About when I started feeling tired the screams from the angels started up again. I could tell it was Castiel, so he must've been protecting Samandriel again. He's really brave.

I couldn't fall asleep like that. I hid my face under the blankets and tried to block out the sound. It got worse after about an hour when the screams stopped being from Castiel. It was Samandriel being tortured. I care about Castiel a lot, but Samandriel is different. I couldn't handle hearing him scream. The sound just cut right through me and made me want to attack John. And there was nothing I dared do.

I had a lot of time to think. There was nothing else to do, and I didn't want to focus on the screams. I was scared that Samandriel would get hurt badly enough to stop acting like himself. I really liked him, and I was living for the next time I could sneak down to visit him.

Wait, I was _living_ to talk to him? I hadn't realized it before, but it was true. And then I decided that I had to find a way to free him. I'd talked to him once, not counting the little bit before the fight, and Samandriel was already my best friend. It was a little stupid. Maybe it was his angelic aura or something affecting me, but I trusted him.

And come on! Samandriel's an angel. How could he possibly be bad?

John, on the other hand, was giving me tons of reasons to fight him. He spanked me twice in one day. I'm not necessarily against spanking as a punishment, but I think it's supposed to be a lot lighter and for younger kids. Whatever John did is obviously ineffective. I just want to defy him more than I ever have before.

I started thinking through the logistics of setting Samandriel free. Ideally, I would free both angels, but I'll start with Samandriel. He's my reason to revolt in the first place, so obviously he's my priority. The thing is how exactly to go about doing it.

Maybe I could steal the keys to the chains John's using to keep the angels stuck. If I could undo the chains, the only other obvious restraint is the loop of holy fire John has around them. I can put that out with regular water. I don't know if he has them tied up in other ways, and I bet they're weak from the torture. But it's the best I can do.

Stealing the keys wasn't hard. I guessed John kept them in the secret compartment in the car's trunk, and I was right. I stole a set of car keys from Dean's backpack and got the trunk open. I even remembered to return Dean's car keys. I didn't want John to get him in trouble when it isn't really his fault. I want all the blame for this one.

I slipped downstairs and started looking around for water buckets. There weren't any. So I ran back upstairs. Luckily, there was a water bucket there. I heaved it downstairs, managing to only spill a third of the water on the stairs. I felt like it was a massive accomplishment.

"Adam?" Castiel asked. "What are you doing here?"

"What- what happened to Samandriel?" I asked, horrified. He was slumped and motionless in his chains.

"John Winchester happened," Cass said. He sounded torn between anger and grief.

"Well, I'm getting you both out of here so it can't happen again," I said. "And then he'll get better, right?"

"He would, but there's no way for you to free him," Castiel said. "He's thoroughly bound."

I shook my head. "I stole the key," I said, holding it up.

A little hope crept onto Castiel's face for the first time.


	5. Chapter 5

**This is set in Heaven again, because Gabriel is awesome and I couldn't help it. This gets vaguely Sabrielish, but it's just hints of pre-slash.**

Sam drifted on the edge between sleeping and waking for a while. He had the vague impression that being awake was frightening, and he didn't want to have to face it. He felt small and weak, and he didn't want to have to face anything. He just wanted to not have to worry about what might happen. He wanted to feel safe.

He was waiting for someone to pull him out of that state, as would happen normally. Someone always came along and made him wake up when he felt like this. But he waited and waited and nobody bothered him. It was freeing and disturbing at the same time. Someone was always there to bother him. Where was he? This just didn't happen.

Sam slowly pulled himself toward consciousness. His hunter instincts were kicking in and telling him that he wasn't in a cheap motel somewhere on a case. Something was up, and it was almost certainly bad. He needed to be alert to handle it.

Sam was lying on the softest, most comfortable surface he'd ever been on. It was like he was floating on a cloud. So, definitely not a cheap motel room mattress. There was music playing in the distance, it sounded like a clarinet or maybe an oboe. Probably a clarinet.

Sam opened his eyes to a simple but elegant room decorated in varying shades of white and red. It was clearly a guest room. A very nice guest room. Memory caught up to him, and he realized he was somewhere in Heaven. Gabriel must have brought him here after he passed out by the warehouse.

The warehouse! Oh, no. He hadn't been able to break the warding, so now Gabriel would have to level the warehouse to free the angels, and Dean, John and Adam would all die! He couldn't let that happen.

Sam leapt out of bed, desperate to find Gabriel and convince him that there was some other way around the warding. It didn't go so well. Sam's legs collapsed and he fell to the floor, smacking his head on the edge of the desk. He stayed conscious but lay there dazed for a minute.

"Help," he whimpered.

There was a sound like a wing beat, and Gabriel materialized in the room. "Oh, Sam. What did you do?" Gabriel tapped Sam's forehead, and the pain from the fall vanished.

"Sorry," Sam mumbled.

Gabriel gently picked Sam up in his arms and sat him down on the edge of the bed. Sam had to work to keep himself from clinging to Gabriel like a frightened child when Gabriel let him go and pulled away. He was an independent adult, and he was not going to fall apart just because he'd been captured and injured and was now horribly weak and helpless. He sniffed back a few tears and tried to regain his composure. Gabriel gave him a minute before he said anything.

"You need to be more careful," Gabriel scolded.

"I didn't know I'd collapse," Sam complained, eyes downcast. He cast around for a way to at least partially change the subject. "What happened earlier? It gets fuzzy near the end."

"You cut too much and nearly bled out, just inside the warding so I couldn't reach you. You could've died, you stupid, careless human."

"Why do you even care, if I'm so stupid?" Sam asked, ticked off.

Gabriel growled at him. Sam flinched and leaned away, trying not to be too scared. But Gabriel was pretty scary when he was mad. It was something in those golden eyes. "You make sure to stay alive, alright?" Gabriel ordered.

Sam ducked his head and nodded.

Gabriel sighed and sat down next to him. "I care about you, you know?" he asked. "I don't know why. It just happened."

Sam looked up into those paralyzing, vivid gold/hazel eyes. "I care about you, too," he admitted. "It's stupid. We're not even supposed to be on the same side, and, like, you're my captor and maybe I have Stockholm Syndrome or something." He hadn't meant to say so much, but Gabriel's eyes had a hypnotic charm that made him just spill whatever he was thinking.

Gabriel laughed. "I seriously doubt it, Samshine," he said. "I hope you don't," he continued more seriously. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

"You haven't," Sam said.

"There, see?" Gabriel asked. "No chance of Stockholm Syndrome. We're safe."

"Yeah, I guess," Sam said, smiling a little. "I don't feel much like a captive," he admitted honestly. He knew that he was, but there were no obvious indications that he was trapped anywhere. And Gabriel cared about him enough that it was impossible to feel like a prisoner. He didn't even want to escape.

"Don't think of yourself as one," Gabriel recommended. "You can just be my guest, as long as you don't try to leave for however long the hostage situation lasts."

Sam thought about that. He knew that he was really a prisoner, but he hadn't agreed with John in the first place. So maybe it made sense to be Gabriel's friend and work with him. He'd been trying to help free the angels earlier anyway. That almost made him Gabriel's ally.

"Alright," Sam agreed. "Just- don't hurt my brothers." It was a plea, and Gabriel wouldn't have to agree to get Sam on his side. They both knew Sam didn't have any emotional strength left or any cards to play against him. But Gabriel wanted to agree anyway. He had to remind himself that Castiel and Samandriel were his priority. Adam and Dean took second place.

"I don't _want_ to hurt your brothers," Gabriel explained. "If there's any other option, I'll take it. I don't know if there will be or not. I'm sorry. I wish I could do more."

Sam blinked back tears. "That's alright," he said, trying to sound something like cheerful. "Let's think about something else."

"So what do you like to do?" Gabriel asked.

Sam shrugged. "Read, I guess?" he said hopefully. "Is there a library here?" Reading would be calming and normal, and who knew what intriguing information on all sorts of things the angels might have? Sam loved learning new things.

"Oh, yeah," Gabriel said. "I go there all the time."

"You like reading?" Sam asked.

"Oh, no," Gabriel said immediately. "Reading is sooo boring. I go to the library to prank the people who're reading there. It's fun."

"You- play pranks on the people reading in the library," Sam said, shaking his head as another of his ideas of angelic behavior was disproved.

Gabriel nodded patiently. "C'mon, it's more interesting than reading a bunch of stuffy books. Nobody minds."

Sam tried to stand up and immediately started falling again. He'd forgotten how weak he was. Gabriel caught him and held him upright. It was strange how strong Gabriel was, despite his small size. Sam reminded himself that this was an archangel he was dealing with, not a human.

"Y'know, never mind," Gabriel said, scooping Sam up in his arms and laying him down carefully on the bed. "We'll just stay here."

"Why am I so weak?" Sam demanded miserably.

"You weren't supposed to wake up this early," Gabriel explained. "It hasn't been long enough. You need to heal from all the blood loss."

Sam groaned. "I didn't lose that much blood," he complained.

"Yeah, you kinda did," Gabriel corrected. "Seriously. Stay put and rest."

"Fine," Sam agreed unhappily. "Whatever. When am I gonna be able to get up?"

"When I say you can," Gabriel snapped. "Matter of fact, I'm going to keep an eye on you until I'm sure you're not going to pull a stupid stunt like almost bleeding yourself to death again for a spell. You are not dying."

Sam thought about that for a moment. "Thanks."

Gabriel blinked. "Uh, what are you thanking me for?" he asked.

"Caring," Sam said. "Nobody outside my immediate family's ever cared about me like this before. So thank you."

"Sheesh. Some life you must've had," Gabriel commented.

"We moved around too much for me to make friends with anybody," Sam explained. "There was always another hunt, somewhere far away. I'd just stay a few weeks, maybe a month at the most, at then everyone'd get torn away."

"Did you ever resent your dad for doing that to you?" Gabriel asked.

Sam laughed bitterly. "Did I ever _not_ resent my dad?" he asked. "I just- wanted to be normal. And he can't even understand what I'm asking for. Is it really too much- to just want to be a normal kid?"

"You ran away once," Gabriel noted.

Sam blinked. "How'd you know about that?" he asked.

"Dude, archangel," Gabriel said by way of explanation.

Sam bit his lip. "I'm planning to run away again," he admitted.

"To college, I'm guessing," Gabriel said.

"The fall semester starts in a month," Sam said. "I got a full ride to Stanford."

Gabriel whistled. "Not bad, kiddo. You wanna be a lawyer, right?"

"Anything but a hunter, really," Sam said. "But yeah, law is the plan."

"It's a cool plan," Gabriel said. "All the sneakiness and little fussy rules that can be manipulated in so many ways…"

"I wouldn't've thought an angel would approve," Sam said, a little taken aback.

Gabriel shrugged. "Technically, it's legal. And yeah, maybe some of the stuff lawyers get up to would be better off being illegal, but it's not my business. If they get too hoity-toity, maybe I'll get sent over to knock 'em off their high horse. Till then, tisn't my problem."

"So- how would you go about 'knocking them off their high horse', exactly?" Sam asked curiously.

"Pranks," Gabriel explained gleefully. "Sometimes deadly ones. Mostly, though, I just knock them around until they shape up. Doesn't take much, most of the time."

"So, you're something of a trickster," Sam noted, a bit of a smile curling his lips. "That's cute."

Gabriel crossed his arms and pouted like a little kid. "I am not cute, Sammich."

"Sure you're not," Sam said, trying to hold back laughter. Gabriel was adorable when he pouted.

"Go to sleep," Gabriel grumbled.

Sam realized he was kind of tired. Having Gabriel say so unleashed a wave of exhaustion on him, so much so that Sam wondered if Gabriel was cheating with his angelic powers. Probably.

"I am kinda tired," he admitted, rubbing his eyes and trying to hold back a yawn. "But- what if Dean and Adam get hurt while I'm out?"

"They won't," Gabriel promised. "Rest, Sammy. You lost a lot of blood."

"Not Sammy," Sam muttered, his eyelids fluttering shut.

"Sure, Sammy," Gabriel said. He pulled the covers over Sam and flew away. He stayed close, just a few doors down. He wanted to be able to respond immediately if anything happened with Sam. The human was under his protection, and he wasn't going to let anything bad happen to him.

 **Thanks for reading!**


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